The term robot is typically used to describe an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by a computer program. Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from humanoids to industrial robots. Mobile robots have the capability to move around in their environment and are not fixed to one physical location. Mobile robots are increasingly being developed for mobility over inhospitable terrain.
A number of robots that utilize manipulators both for mobility and manipulation, including robots built on the ATHLETE and LEMUR robotics platforms, have been developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. with the assistance of a variety of collaborators. The ATHLETE robot incorporates six 6-degree of freedom limbs with an additional one degree of freedom wheel as an end-effector. The LEMUR robotics platform was utilized to build the Lemur I and Lemur IIa robots that both included six 4-degree of freedom limbs and the Lemur IIb robot that included 4 4-degree of freedom limbs. Research into the advancement of robotics platforms for greater capability and autonomy is ongoing.